Session 4- Experiencing Virtual Realities

03.11.17

Experiencing Virtual Realities

During this session, we got the chance to try the VR gear headset. We were able to discover the possibilities at Chelsea through the Digital Maker Collective. We tried on the HTC VIVE VR gear. The program we got to try out was called google tilt brush. The program allowed us to draw/paint freely using the hand controllers. I mainly enjoyed being able to draw absolutely anything I wanted to.

Figure 6. (Google, 2016)

It was a weird feeling being isolated from the real world into a blank canvas where I was expected to create a world for me to be encapsulated in. It is a very unique experience because the drawings you create are 3D hence why you need to think about what it will look like in every perspective. I was aiming to draw things that looked realistic, carefully considering the depth, scale and height- this for me was challenging. I also started to feel quite nauseous however despite this, it was a great experience that I would love to try out again.

At first, I was quite nervous, fully aware that people were watching me from the outside, but once I started drawing, I was surprised at how fast I became immersed. This experience itself helped me realize the reasons to why people use VR as a way to escape reality. It truly manages to pull you into a new environment, allowing yourself to let loose whilst getting creative.

I believe this VR software could be really handy for designers as it is a new way of designing. This VR experience will most definitely allow me to further my practice in textile design. My design process is mainly 2D, I don’t always think about how my samples will look on the figure, or objects. However, this software can quite easily allow designers like myself to import certain objects such as a mannequin which could then be used to design directly onto.

Some of the disadvantages with the HTC VR gear was that we had to manually adjust the eye levels to match with the screen. If, however you are unable to sort this, you get motion sickness which is not ideal.